October 20
1900s-1930s *1900 - The St. Louis Cardinals withhold the final month’s pay on all but five players, including John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson, citing late hours, dissipation, and gambling as reasons for the poor showing of the team, which finished tied for fifth place in the National League. *1901 - Seven St. Louis Cardinals, including half the pitching staff and the three top hitters Jesse Burkett, Emmet Heidrick and Bobby Wallace, jump to the new St. Louis Browns American League team. *1910: **On one day of rest, Jack Coombs of the Philadelphia Athletics pitches a complete game to beat the Chicago Cubs 12–5, and give the Athletics a 3-0 lead in the World Series. Coombs also collects three hits and three RBI in the game. **The New York Giants win the City Series against the New York Highlanders in the sixth game, as Christy Mathewson is victorious over Jack Warhop, 6–3. Larry Doyle's third inning three-run home run is the big blow. *1924 - Kansas City Monarchs manager José Méndez takes the mound to spin a three-hit, 5–0 shutout over the Hilldale Daisies to win the final game of the first Negro League World Series. Loser Nip Winters had pitched the first three Hilldale wins. *1926 - Stuffy McInnis is named manager of the Philadelphia Phillies succeeding Art Fletcher. Fletcher will sign on with the Yankees as coach. *1931 - Frankie Frisch, the St. Louis Cardinals' fiery field leader, is named National League MVP. He led in stolen bases with 28, hit .313, and was chosen for his all-around excellence. *1935 - Hank Greenberg is named American League MVP. Wes Ferrell finish second in the ballot. *1936 - In a pitchers' duel, Carl Hubbell (26-6) edges out Dizzy Dean (24-13) for MVP honors in the National League. 1940s-1960s *1947 - Radio rights for the World Series sell for $475,000 for three years. Every franchise but Pittsburgh has sold 1948 TV rights. The New York Giants get $400,000 for radio-TV rights from Chesterfield. *1951 - Joe DiMaggio accompanies Lefty O'Doul's All-Stars on a tour of Japan. They will win 13 of the 15 games played. *1954 - Shoichi Kaneda of the Tokyo Swallows strikes out his 350th batter, surpassing the MLB season record of 348, set by Bob Feller in 1948. Kaneda already holds the single-game strikeout record in Japan with 15 in 1952 and 1954 and will go on to hold almost every Japanese pitching record before retiring in 1969. *1959 - Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith says the team will not move the franchise. *1960 - Coach Ralph Houk is named to succeed Casey Stengel as manager of the New York Yankees. He briefly led the team during the season when Stengel was hospitalized. *1964 - Johnny Keane, three days after resigning as manager of the World Champions St. Louis Cardinals, replaces Yogi Berra as the Yankees' field boss. *1967 - Bob Kennedy is named by Oakland Athletics owner Charles Finley the first manager in team history. 1970s-1980s *1972 - In Game Five of the World Series, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds hit a home run on the first pitch of the game off Catfish Hunter as Cincinnati beat the Oakland Athletics 5–4. *1973 - Reggie Jackson of the Oakland Athletics had RBI doubles in the first and third innings to lead Oakland to a 3–1 victory over the New York Mets in Game Six of the World Series. *1981 - In a World Series rematch of the 1978 teams, the Yankees take Game One over the Dodgers 5–3. Bob Watson hit a three-run home run in the first inning as pitcher Ron Guidry goes seven innings for the win. Goose Gossage closes down a Dodgers rally in the 8th. *1982 - The Milwaukee Brewers, playing in their first World Series, are unable to hold on to a 3–1 lead in Game Seven, as the St. Louis Cardinals, thanks to Keith Hernandez's two-run sixth inning single, rallied to a 6–3 victory and the World Championship. *1985 - After giving up just two hits in eight innings, Kansas City Royals pitcher Charlie Leibrandt is raked with three two-out hits and loses 4–2. The St. Louis Cardinals has a 2-0 lead in the World Series. *1987 - The Cardinals get all their runs against Minnesota in the seventh inning to win 3–1 in Game Three of the World Series. *1988 - Orel Hershiser pitched a four-hitter and Mickey Hatcher and Mike Davis hit two-run home runs to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5–2 victory over the Oakland Athletics and the World Series title in five games. Hershiser became only the third player to win the MVP honors in both the playoffs and the World Series. The win gives the Dodgers their first World Championship since 1981, becoming the only team to win more than one World Series in the 1980s. 1990s *1990 - The Cincinnati Reds completed one of the biggest upsets in major league history, beating the heavily favored Oakland Athletics, 2–1, to win the World Series in four games. Pitcher José Rijo, with ninth inning help from Randy Myers, won his second game of the series. *1991 - The Minnesota Twins take a 2-0 lead in the World Series with a 3–2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. The deciding blow is a leadoff home run in the eighth inning by rookie Scott Leius. Chili Davis also homers for Minnesota. *1992 - The Toronto Blue Jays take the World Series lead with a 3–2 win over the Atlanta Braves on Candy Maldonado's bases–loaded single in the ninth inning. Duane Ward gets credit for the victory in relief of Juan Guzmán as Joe Carter and Kelly Gruber hits home runs. In the fourth inning, Blue Jays' outfielder Devon White's sensational catch nearly results in a triple play. Atlanta OF Deion Sanders was ruled safe on the play, but replays show he should have been the third out. Braves manager Bobby Cox is ejected from the game in the ninth, becoming the first manager to be thrown out of a Series game since 1985. By starting in right field, Toronto's Carter becomes the first player to start the first three games of a WS at three different positions. He started Game One at first base and Game Two in left field. *1993 - Devon White's two-run triple capped a six-run eighth inning as Toronto rallied for a 15–14 victory over the Phillies and a 3-1 World Series lead. The 29 runs shattered the Series record of 22 set in Game Two of the 1936 Series, when the Yankees beat the New York Giants 18–4. It was also the longest nine-inning game in series history - four hours, 14 minutes. *1996 - The Atlanta Braves continue to pound the ball, as they defeat the Yankees, 12–1, in the World Series opener. At age nineteen, Andruw Jones puts himself in the record books as the youngest player to hit a home run in the Series. He hit one homer in the second inning off Andy Pettitte and another in the third. Pitcher John Smoltz gains the win. *1999: **The Colorado Rockies hire Buddy Bell as their new manager. **Boston eye doctor Carmen Puliafito offers free surgery for MLB umpires during the postseason after umpires blew three calls against the Red Sox during the ALCS. Puliafito, who chairs the ophthalmology department at the Tufts University School of Medicine, suspects some umpires are secretly nearsighted. "That's the only explanation I have for these three horrible calls." 2000s *2000 - The MLB play-by-play broadcasters and color commentators select Carlos Delgado and Todd Helton as the Hank Aaron Award recipients. The new award, established last year, recognizes the Toronto Blue Jays and Colorado Rockies first basemen as the best overall hitters in each league. The same day, Toronto signs Delgado to a record four-year $68 million contract. Delgado's average salary of $17 million is the most in major league history. *2001 - The Arizona Diamondbacks take a 3-1 lead in their National League Championship Series with an 11–4 victory over Greg Maddux and the Atlanta Braves. Six of Arizona's runs are unearned as a result of three Atlanta errors. Luis Gonzalez hits a three-run home run for Arizona while Andruw Jones connects for the Braves. Brian Anderson gets the win in relief of starter Albie Lopez. *2002 - Twenty-year old Venezuelan righthander Francisco Rodríguez becomes the youngest pitcher ever to win a World Series game. With just 15 days of major league experience, "K-Rod" throws 37 pitches retiring nine consecutive batters in three innings to pick up the victory as the Anaheim Angels outslug the Giants in Game Two, 11–10. Tim Salmon goes 4–4 with two home runs and four RBI, while Reggie Sanders, David Bell, Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds homered for San Francisco. *2004 - After losing the first three games of the American League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox became the first team in major league history to win a best-of-seven series by beating New York at Yankee Stadium, 10–3. Johnny Damon hit two home runs, including a grand slam in the fourth inning, backing up a solid pitching work of Derek Lowe. Boston joined the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders as the only teams in the history professional sports to overcome a 3-0 series deficit to win a seven-game series. Births *1900 - Judy Johnson, Hall of Fame Negro League player (d. 1989) *1909 - Bruce Campbell, outfielder (d. 1995) *1931 - Mickey Mantle, Hall of Fame outfielder (d. 1995) *1937 - Juan Marichal, Hall of Fame pitcher *1952 - Dave Collins, outfielder *1953 - Keith Hernandez, All-Star infielder *1968 - Rudy Seanez, pitcher *1969 - Juan González, All-Star outfielder *1979 - Choo Freeman, outfielder Deaths *1906 - Buck Ewing, Hall of Fame player and manager (b. 1859) *1949 - Dick Rudolph, pitcher (b. 1887) *1999 - Ray Katt, catcher (b. 1927) *2002 - Mel Harder, All-Star pitcher and manager (b. 1909) *2004 - Chuck Hiller, infielder (b. 1934)